God Was Not in the Fire

Scribner Trade Hardcover
October 1995

We all wrestle. All human beings in all ages and of all generations struggle with similar questions: What deserves our love, and what should we hate?

What should we pursue in the relatively few years we are alive, and what should we shun? What is ultimately valuable, and how do we seek it? What is ultimately devoid of value, and how can we avoid it?

How do we need to live, to feel or to dream if we are to make our lives worth something? Jews add another question to the list:

Does Judaism have anything relevant to say about these issues anymore?

Acclaim for God Was Not in the Fire

Daniel Gordis is a major new voice on the American Jewish scene, and readers will find themselves edified, uplifted, and moved by this wonderful work.

David Wolpe, author of The Healer of Shattered Hearts: A Jewish View of God

God Was Not in the Fire is a unique blend of intellect, erudition, and passion. This book is sure to become one of the most important guides for contemporary Jews who are seeking a spiritually satisfying and emotionally as well as intellectually demanding way of life.

Acclaim for Daniel Gordis

Through his intelligent, informed, concerned, and insightful writings, Daniel Gordis pushes the Jewish people in both Israel and the Diaspora to pay thoughtful attention to the great issues of the day.

Rabbi David Ellenson, PhDChancellor, Hebrew Union College

Gordis makes his readers and listeners think with him in depth, in nuance, and with reasoned flexibility about the present and the future of Israel, Judaism, and humankind.

Rabbi Haskel LooksteinKehillat Jeshurun, New York

If you asked me, ‘of all the people you know, who cares the most about the physical, moral and spiritual health of Israel?’ I would put the commentator and scholar Daniel Gordis at the top of the list.

Jeffrey GoldbergThe Atlantic

Daniel Gordis is one of Israel’s most thoughtful observers

Prof. Alan DershowitzRenowned legal and political commentator; Best-selling author of "The Case for Israel"

My synagogue continually clamors for Daniel Gordis to visit us again. There simply is not a more effective speaker on Israel — its problems and wonders — than Dr. Daniel Gordis.

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"More than a country, Israel is a people reborn, a mission still to be fulfilled" - Daniel Gordis

Meet Daniel Gordis

Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President and the Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and currents in Israel, and a recent winner of the National Jewish Book Award, Dr. Gordis was the founding dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism.